From page 10 of The Border Mail today:
Fault brings pilot down in paddock
By John Conroy
A SYDNEY pilot made a successful emergency landing in a paddock near Everton late yesterday afternoon.
The man, 51, had taken off from Wangaratta in his Mooney M20J single engine four seater plane.
After discovering a mechanical fault, the pilot attempted to return to Wangaratta airport but was forced down about 5pm in a paddock just east of Everton, near Cemetery Lane.
Emergency services had been dispatched but arrived to find the plane had landed safely with no injuries to the pilot and only minor damage to the plane's undercarriage.
The man was the sole occupant of the plane.
"He did a good job, he's obviously kept pretty level-headed throughout," Sgt Darren Bentley said. "He missed all the cows in the paddock so the farmer was pretty happy as well."
The details of the mechanical fault are unknown.
Police will now help prepare a report for the Civil Aviation safety Authority.